Havana vieja

Each image by Ruslan Lobanov is a nude and the photograph's accompanying staging is highly sophisticated. His mentor, the nonconformist artist Helmut Newton, initiator of what has been called "porno chic"? in photography, affirmed ?Nothing is more revealing than nudity, even when it's dressed."? By exploiting a savvy combination of nonchalance and seduction, this citation applies perfectly to the photographer's unique body of work. Dressed in light clothing or partially undressed, his models adopt daring poses that connote them as confident and dominant femmes fatales. Heads held high, they parade in public places while retaining a natural aura. Through the use of black and white, under perfectly controlled lighting that reconstitutes the atmospheres of the 1960s, these cinematic images possess an underlying narrative dimension. Despite the provocative character of his work, Ruslan Lobanov defends a symbol, that of women's beauty and freedom.